Microsoft sets Azure reseller NZ availability date…

The business opportunity for Microsoft’s partners around cloud continues to expand, with news that Microsoft Azure is coming to the Open Licensing program on August 1, 2014.

With Azure, the tech giant says partners can buy a Microsoft product or service from preferred distributors, before reselling to its customers.

Previously, there were two options for purchasing Microsoft Azure, either on www.azure.microsoft.com or as part of an Enterprise Agreement (EA) with Microsoft.

According to today's release from Redmond, when partners resell Azure in Open Licensing, they purchase tokens from their preferred Distributor and apply the credit to the customer’s Azure Portal in increments of US$100.

The credits can be used for any consumption-based service available in Azure.

To add more credit, partners can purchase new tokens and add them to the account offering the opportunity to manage customer’s portal, setup services, and monitor consumption, all while maintaining a direct relationship.

“Through the Open Licensing program, Azure will now be available through another familiar licensing option that offers the benefits of Microsoft Volume Licensing, flexible monetary payments, and additional opportunities for you to grow margins and deepen customer relationships,” revealed Josh Waldo Senior Director, Cloud Partner Strategy, Microsoft.

“As we lead up to availability of Azure in Open Licensing in August, you’ll have opportunities to gain sales and technical skills to prepare for this opportunity.”